So much for the drought here in my little corner of the world.  I guess it hadn't rained for quite some time (I never really noticed much).  Water companies were asking folks not to water their lawns on certain days (and it seemed like I would always read the paper and find this out after I'd watered my lawn all day!)  Some towns and neighborhoods had restrictions on watering lawns or washing cars. 

 I think that, maybe, most folks around here aren't used to temperatures in the high 80s/ low 90s.  But us....being from Florida, we still had our windows open and felt quite comfortable with such cool weather.  (This is one of the reasons we've stayed here so long...the weather is near perfect).

Well, fast forward to this past week.  No shortage of rain in these parts this week.   Graduations at my sons' karate studio are coming up and my boys are ready to move out of their yellow belts. Yesterday,  while driving them to their fourth karate class this week - the bottom must have nearly fell out of the sky.   Talk about a gullywasher.  So, here I am driving in near zero visibility, trying to find my glasses in my bag while looking at the road.  (Realizing that -- oh yeah,  my glasses are sitting on my chest at home.) Trying to focus on the road in 5:00 p.m. traffic while seeing nothing but white.....

When I hear this louder than loud "Whooohooo" coming from the back seat of my van.  My 9 year old wild child is acting as if he's never seen rain before.  I continue to focus on the road when I hear, "Mom, we don't have an umbrella".  Again, loudly, very loudly. 

Finally the rain has let up a bit and we can see the road. The boys are in awe of how much water has accumulated on the road because it was coming down too fast for the drains to accomodate it all.  Now, my son yells up to me "Mom!"  I'm thinking something is going on that I, the driver, need to know about.  But, the scare wasn't scary after all - "The street is flooded" he says in a worried (loud) tone.  So, finally, I say "Boys, I need to focus on the road ahead of me, I can't talk to you right now" 

The big boys continue to look out the back window as if they are living in the days of Noah and have never seen this - water that falls from the sky.  I'm praying that my five year old doesn't fall asleep, reminding him that "we'll be there soon, stay awake".  It's way too late for this tired boy to be taking a nap (hoping to avoid the bedtime battle with a child whose wide awake).

When...here we go again...we're under another black cloud, heavy raindrops pouring.   And, true to form, my 9 year old wants to chat again. "Mom" he yells "We need to get an umbrella".   I am way too sarcastic for my own good...and it's usually in a fun way.  But, at that moment, I'm thinking to myself..."Okay, yes, lets go to a store, park, walk  in through the pouring rain, buy an umbrella, get back into the van and drive to karate....so that we won't get wet walking the five steps from the van to the entrance of the karate studio."  Ya know, it really takes talent to think those thoughts while at the same time saying to your child, "We won't need an umbrella; we won't have to walk that far." 

Finally, we arrive at the karate studio...five year old still awake (barely), big boys wide-eyed from the great, water-world adventure ride they've just been on (in their imaginations anyway).  We survived and didn't even get all that wet on our way inside.  I'm happy to sit for an hour while watching a bunch of energetic children practice karate...I don't even bother to walk toward the bench...I sit right on the floor and watch from there. 

And, the funny thing is, that any mom knows that this is just a day in the life of a mom.  Nothing special about this particular day....details are different...facts are the same.   Sometimes I think that these little boys have way too much confidence in me...they're not scared or nervous -  nothing but excited. My oldest, even saying that he hopes it'll storm on the way home too.  I'm hearing things like "that was amazing" coming from behind me as I drive home. 

Scary to think that their confidence is in me; they know that I'm not going to let any harm come to them so they enjoy the scenery while I weather the storm.  How I wish that it could be that easy for me to show that confidence in God.  I need to look out the window more and just let God take care of the storms.

And ya wanna know what?  My husband was on the road driving to a meeting on another part of the city during all of this and I'm praying that he's not having difficulty on the roads.  Later that evening when he calls, I ask him about it -- and his response?  "What storm?" 

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